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| 1998 in astronomy | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
1998 in astronomy 1998 saw pivotal developments across observational cosmology, planetary exploration, and astrophysical instrumentation, connecting institutions, missions, and researchers worldwide. Major collaborations among Supernova Cosmology Project, High-Z Supernova Search Team, European Southern Observatory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and observatories such as Hubble Space Telescope, Keck Observatory, Very Large Telescope, and Arecibo Observatory reshaped understanding of cosmology, dark energy, and extrasolar planets.
Teams from the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-Z Supernova Search Team independently announced evidence for an accelerating expansion of the universe, using observations from Hubble Space Telescope, Keck Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and European Southern Observatory instruments, challenging predictions from Big Bang models and reviving interest in cosmological constant and Lambda-CDM. The International Astronomical Union convened assemblies and working groups that influenced nomenclature adopted by the Minor Planet Center and coordination between Jet Propulsion Laboratory and European Space Agency for interplanetary missions. Upgrades to the Very Large Telescope adaptive optics program and commissioning work at Subaru Telescope influenced observational strategies used at Mauna Kea Observatories and La Silla Observatory. The Arecibo Observatory hosted radar campaigns coordinated with Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex to track near-Earth objects cataloged by the Near-Earth Object Program.
Independent light-curve analyses of Type Ia supernovae by teams including researchers such as Saul Perlmutter, Adam Riess, and Brian P. Schmidt yielded distance-redshift relations implying a positive cosmological constant; these results were presented in conferences and journals, reshaping priorities at institutions including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Ground-based radial velocity programs at Keck Observatory, European Southern Observatory, and Anglo-Australian Observatory reported lower-mass extrasolar companions, complementing results from groups led by Michel Mayor and Geoffrey Marcy and expanding catalogs curated by the International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Center. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope refined distance estimates to Cepheid variable hosts such as NGC 1365 and informed recalibrations relevant to the Hubble constant debate involving teams from Carnegie Institution for Science and Space Telescope Science Institute. The Chandra X-ray Observatory pre-launch preparations at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Ball Aerospace produced high-energy surveys that guided later X-ray studies of quasars and galaxy clusters catalogued by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey planners. Infrared observations from Two Micron All Sky Survey teams and facilities like United Kingdom Infrared Telescope contributed to surveys of brown dwarfs and star-forming regions in Orion Nebula and Taurus Molecular Cloud.
The Mars Global Surveyor continued mapping operations coordinated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA, while the NEAR Shoemaker mission under John F. Shoemaker's project leadership prepared for its approach to asteroid 433 Eros; mission teams at Applied Physics Laboratory and University of Michigan refined orbital insertion plans. The Cassini–Huygens project, a collaboration between NASA and European Space Agency, advanced toward its cruise phase with teams at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames Research Center conducting instrument calibration. The STEREO concept and proposals at institutions including Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center influenced heliophysics planning. Launches by national agencies including Roscosmos and China National Space Administration delivered communications satellites and low-Earth-orbit payloads that affected space-based observation schedules at Salyut successor facilities and Chinese ground stations. Technology demonstrators for micro-satellites and instrument testbeds at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Caltech informed future small-satellite astrophysics missions.
The Minor Planet Center and International Astronomical Union ratified provisional designations and namings for numerous minor planets, including main-belt asteroids and Jupiter trojans tracked using Spacewatch telescopes and surveys at Kitt Peak National Observatory and Palomar Observatory. Newly classified trans-Neptunian objects from surveys coordinated by Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and Mauna Kea Observatories expanded the catalog of Kuiper belt objects monitored by teams at University of Hawaii and University of Arizona. Stellar classification efforts at European Southern Observatory and Harvard College Observatory updated catalogs for variable stars and spectroscopic binaries in the Henry Draper Catalogue successor databases managed by the Harvard & Smithsonian.
Researchers contributing to supernova cosmology and exoplanet detection received recognition at symposia and awards presented by organizations such as the Royal Astronomical Society, American Astronomical Society, National Academy of Sciences, and European Southern Observatory. Prize announcements and fellowship awards from the Royal Society, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and NASA honored investigators at institutions including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Caltech, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy for work on cosmology, instrumentation, and planetary science.
The community mourned the passing of influential figures whose careers spanned observatories and institutions such as Mount Wilson Observatory, Yerkes Observatory, Royal Observatory Greenwich, and Observatoire de Paris; memorials and obituaries were organized by societies including the International Astronomical Union, American Astronomical Society, and the Royal Astronomical Society to commemorate contributions to stellar astronomy, celestial mechanics, and instrument development. Prominent colleagues and successors from Carnegie Institution for Science, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, and Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias delivered tributes at conferences and journal memorials.
Category:Years in astronomy